


Begin

by Insertpoetryhere



Series: This Is Home [1]
Category: Invader Zim
Genre: Abuse, Angst, Foster System, Found Family, Gen, Gir is 2, Hard of Hearing Zim, Human AU, PTSD, Past Abuse, Purple’s name is Dik, Red’s name is Ren, Traumatized Zim, Underage Drinking, Underage Drug Use, Update: This AU does eventually have ZADR. DNI if you are ship hostile, Zim is 10, they are 16, this is kind of sad but the AU is gonna get Happier
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-23
Updated: 2020-04-23
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:40:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23746216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Insertpoetryhere/pseuds/Insertpoetryhere
Summary: None of these kids asked for this family, but maybe they can get used to it eventually.
Relationships: Almighty Tallest Purple & Almighty Tallest Red, Almighty Tallest Purple & Zim, Almighty Tallest Red & Zim
Series: This Is Home [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1710571
Comments: 13
Kudos: 70





	1. Chapter 1

Zim had lived in this house for three weeks. In his experience, three weeks was normally deemed as a variety of “long enough”.

Long enough to know where all the dishes go. Long enough to know how long the walk was from school to the house he was at for the time being. Long enough for the people who were caring for him to get sick of him.

But he was starting to see a different pattern with this house.

He had two brothers here, though they would probably kick his ass if he heard him call them that. Three weeks wasn’t enough for them to tolerate his existence.

“Hey!” He protested as Ren took the bowl Zim had taken from the cabinet and put it up on a shelf too high for him to reach.

He saw the red tinge around Ren’s eyes, and he realized that the 16 year old was high again. Zim was 10, but no stranger to the world of potheads and junkies. Still, with his extensive experience, he had never heard of someone getting stoned before 7:30 in the morning.

Zim really didn’t like being alone with Ren. He had never hurt him, but Zim still would smell the weed and booze and get this feeling like something bad was gonna happen.

Ren walked away, laughing while Zim pushed a chair over to the counter. He stood on his tip toes, jumping up to try and knock off the plastic bowl from the top shelf. He could hear Ren laughing harder with every little hop.

The bowl fell to the ground, rolling across the kitchen floor until it finally fell still next to Dik’s feet. The boy looked away from his own cereal to sneer at it in disgust.

Zim almost fell off the chair as he rushed to pick it up. Dik looked even more grossed out as Zim scooped the plastic dish up. “You aren’t going to eat out of that, are you?”

Zim looked from the bowl to his foster brother, like he was asking for permission. This is something that always annoyed Dik, but it was a hard habit to break. The older boy sighed, turning to his twin. “Carpool heading out in 5, you coming or not?”

“Nah.” Ren said, propping his feet up on the table and leaning back in his chair. “I’ll stay and watch Gir.”

Gir was possibly the only member of the household that actually liked Zim. The fact that he was two spoke volumes. He chose to believe that it was because the twins didn’t seem to like either of them that much.

“You know that means you actually have to watch him, right?” Dik clarified, watching as his stoned brother picked up a fork and began examining it. “And no driving anywhere, you look like you’ve had enough.”

Dik stood up, snatching the fork from Ren and putting back down next to the bowl. “Got it.” Ren sighed, leaning his head back.

Dik gave a nod. “Alright, let’s go.” He looked over to Zim with a grimace, like just making eye contact with him was a burden. Zim wanted to point out that it hadn’t been 5 minutes and that he hadn’t gotten to eat breakfast yet, but he decided against it. He grabbed his bag off of the table and rushed after Dik, who was walking towards the door with keys in hand.

“Sit in the front.” Dik said simply as the two walked up to the car. Zim didn’t ask questions when it came to Dik. He knew that the sound of his voice annoyed the boy. But he also didn’t like the quiet.

Zim was quite convinced that Dik didn’t like anything.

He didn’t seem to be in any rush to get to school, stopping by a coffee shop to get something that claimed to be a latte, but had so many extra shots of espresso that Zim wondered why he hadn’t just ordered a black coffee.

They pulled up to the front of the middle school, which was housed in the same building as the high school but was separated by a specific hallway near the center of the building. 

“Out.” Dik said simply. Zim was not particularly proud of the way that he scrambled out of the passenger seat, taking much longer than needed to grab his bag, unbuckle his seatbelt, and go.

The car sped away almost immediately after Zim had managed to climb out. He could practically feel the way it moved the air around it as Dik hit the gas with no hesitation. Zim jumped forward, nearly tripping over the curb.

Zim had absolutely no real opinion on school. He used to love it, back when he had first started going. It was an escape from wherever he was living at the time, and he liked learning about the different subjects. But that love got cancelled out as the subjects got harder and harder to understand, and as Zim’s own attention span shrunk smaller and smaller. Now, he was just indifferent.

Ms. Bitters had insisted that he sit in the front the moment she had spotted the bright green hearing aid in his ear. He tried to elaborate, to explain that he was profoundly deaf in the other ear and that he would do much better if she sat him in the middle of the front row. However, she had either not listened or not cared and placed him in the desk by the door, the ear with the hearing aid facing the door quite uselessly. 

He had a sign interpreter that came to class with him, but the middle aged man was so unenthusiastic that he did a better job at putting Zim to sleep than he did teaching him. The distant, droning voice of his teacher that could barely carry over to his hearing ear was also a factor. Zim found that he was sleeping in class more often than he was doing any actual work.

It wasn’t the only issue that had come up regarding his hearing aids. Some kid on the other side of the classroom had come up to him and demanded to know what they were. His name was Dib, and from what Zim could tell he was probably on crack. He was only half joking when he said he was convinced.

He wasn’t sure if Dib meant to be malicious or not, but he could confirm that his other classmates did. The past month of school had been full of kids running up behind him and screaming into the ear with the hearing aid. It scared him, and also kinda just hurt his ear in general. 

He sat down in his seat, not really wanting to take his backpack off just yet. He leaned back, watching as his interpreter walked in behind him. He checked the board, seeing that they were starting off with American history today. He put his head down on the desk, closing his eyes despite the glare that his interpreter was sending him. He didn’t care too much for history, anyway.

The day went on as usual, with Bitters yelling for him to wake up, him pretending not to hear her, and then her eventually giving up. He woke up for lunch, and continued to keep his head down for the rest of the day. It was 5th grade, it’s not like it required too much attention anyway.

He felt a tap on his shoulder some time near the end of the day. He looked up as his classmate Zita handed him the homework for that night. He took it, looking over the questions quickly. He knew the basic answers for most of them, but the ones he didn’t know could pretty easily be googled.

He took his bag off, slipping the paper into his bag as the dismissal bell rang loudly and sent a vibration through Zim’s chair. The students began to file out, pushing past one another to leave as quickly as possible. Zim was in no rush, staying seated as the rest of the class chattered and ran out the door. Someone stopped next to his desk, and Zim pretended not to see them.

“Hey.” Dib said. Zim pretended not to hear him, but Dib had a way of seeing through his whenever he did that. The boy had been making attempts almost daily to make amends for his actions on the first day. Though, it seemed more for his own sake then for Zim’s.

Dib didn’t respond verbally at first, but dropped a granola bar onto the desk. Zim looked at it like it was some type of alien object, then up to Dib. He now had his full attention. “I saw you didn’t eat at lunch.” The boy explained.

Zim hesitated before grabbing the bar off the table. This made Dib smile, but Zim wasn’t sure why.

“I… have to go.” Zim said, grabbing his bag and leaving as quickly as he could.

Dik was already waiting in the parking lot when Zim got there, stopped in the bus-only zone and ignoring the people honking their horns loudly for him to move. Zim climbed into the front seat, buckling himself in as Dik sped off.

The ride home was nearly silent, except for the radio which was playing something so faint that Zim could barely hear it. 

“I’m going to the library for a group project.” Dik finally said. “Dinner is in the freezer.”

Zim didn’t answer, he just nodded. Dik seemed annoyed. “Did you hear me?”

“Yes.” Zim said quickly.

Dik noded, stopping the car abruptly in front of the house. “Out.” He said simply. Zim got out, his bag slung over his shoulder. Dik sped away once again, leaving Zim alone in front of the house. 

He walked in, throwing his bag on the couch. He could hear Gir crying upstairs, and he remembered that he had been left home alone with Ren all day. Zim sighed, heading up the stairs to go take care of the toddler. 

Ren was coming down as Zim was going up, and Zim stopped to let the older boy pass. But his foster brother stopped, grabbing his arm to stop him as well.

“Hey, where’s Dik?” He asked, seemingly sobered up. 

“At the library.” Zim answered, trying to gently pry his arm away.

Ren smiled, but not particularly at Zim. “Awesome, I’m going out.” 

Zim wanted to argue, but by the time he found the courage, Ren was already halfway out of the door. He knew that going out for him meant getting high or drunk with some college kids. His first week in the house, Ren went out one night and didn’t come back for three days. Dik was an absolute wreck looking for him. They eventually found him a city over, outside the dorm building of one of the state colleges.

Gir gave another shrill cry, and Zim’s attention went back to that. He ran up the stairs, opening the first door to the left. 

Gir was standing in his crib, his cries now turning into a semi-coherent word. “Baba!” He screamed. “Baba!”

Baba, as Zim had come to learn, did not mean bottle. It was his attempt at saying “Brother”. He wasn’t referring to anyone specific either. Baba had just become a general term for anyone male and older than him. 

Gir let out a scream so loud that it almost looked like the force of it had sent him falling on his butt, a fall that only made him cry louder.

“Gir!” Zim called over the screaming, trying to get the toddler’s attention. The little boy opened his blue eyes, and smiled widely when he saw Zim. He didn’t seem hurt, and Zim didn’t smell anything particularly foul so a diaper change wasn’t needed. He just wanted attention.

Zim got up on his tiptoes, leaning against the top of the crib. Gir made little grabby hands upward. “Up! Up!”

Zim pulled down the side of the crib, Picking up the eager toddler. “You want Moose?” Zim asked him.

Gir began kicking excitedly. “Moo! Moo! Moo!”

Zim walked out of the nursery and into the bedroom across the hall. There were no decorations, the walls were all just a solid, bare white. A suitcase sat at the end of the bed, with all of Zim’s clothes still stored in it. Looking at it, you couldn’t tell that anyone was staying there at all.

Zim put Gir on the plain, off white bedspread and knelt down to dig through his purple suitcase. At the very bottom was a purple stuffed animal. It was a bit wonky looking from years of repairs, but Zim still thought it was cute. 

His mom had gotten it for him when he was four. It had come with a little tag that had it’s name on it. “M-I-N-I-M-O-O-S-E,” She had fingerspelled it slowly for him. She had laughed when he tried to sign it back, making Zim wonder if that’s actually what she had spelled or if he had just misunderstood. 

Gir loved Mini-Moose. It was another reason the two of them got along so well. 

Zim stood up again, walking over to the bed and Sitting down next to the bouncing toddler. “M-O-O-S-E.” He fingerspelled, followed by the actual sign for the animal. Gir laughed as Zim made antlers with his hands and pulled them away from his head in a slight arch.

He placed the moose in Gir’s little hands, lifting the toddler up again and heading back downstairs. 

He sat down on the couch, Gir leaning against his stomach, and fished his homework out of his backpack.

“Don’t suppose you know who invented peanut butter, do you?” He looked down at Gir, who just giggled at him and hugged Mini-Moose closer.

“Yeah, I didn’t think so.”

\---

Zim was woken up by a rough shove against his shoulder. The sudden contact made him jump, causing Gir to stir against his stomach but not wake up. They must have fallen asleep while watching whatever it was that he had put on the TV.

Dik was standing above him, looking more pissy than usual. “Where’s Ren?”

“Huh?” Zim asked, still sleepy.

“Where is Ren?” He asked again, slower but not with any type of patience.

Zim suddenly registered exactly what he had asked, and wanted nothing more than to just disappear. “Oh… he uh… went out?”

“You let him go out!” Dik raised his voice, suddenly looking alarmed. Zim wanted to point out that he didn’t really have any power to tell him not to, but he couldn’t quite find his voice.

“I-” He tried. “I’m sorry…”

“You know what happens when he-” Dik cut himself off, grabbing his hoodie from off of the back of the couch and running his hands through his dyed purple hair. “Whatever, just put Gir to bed. I’ll be back.”

Zim could tell he was still angry, and leapt up to follow his directions. He could hear Dik’s car starting as he laid Gir down in his crib.

He started finishing up the nightly work around the house, ignoring his unfinished homework in hopes of getting on Dik’s good side. He knew how dangerous an angry person could be, and just because Dik hadn’t hurt him yet didn’t mean he wouldn’t.

He eventually fell into his bed, exhausted in every way. He reached out for Mini-Moose, holding the stuffed animal close as he drifted off to sleep.

\---

Zim’s door opened abruptly, filling the little room with the light from the hallway. He groaned, pulling his blanket over his face. He opened his eyes slowly, , pulling the blanket back down and squinting at the figure standing against the light of the hallway.

No, not one figure. Two figures standing close together.

He eventually registered them as Dik and Ren, who could barely stand up on his own.

“He’s your problem.” Dik announced. He dumped Ren on the floor, closing the door as he left. Zim could smell the alcohol on him from across the room, the smell mixed with weed and the teenager’s own vomit. He was absolutely wasted.

Zim felt his entire body start to shake. He watched nervously as Ren pushed himself up to a sitting position. From there, he used the dresser to hoist himself up. He staggered over to the bed, not seeming to notice Zim, or rather not really caring that he was there.

Zim’s last foster parent had been an alcoholic too. Not quite at Ren’s level but still pretty bad. He would come into Zim’s room at night, wasted and pissed as hell about something. Zim could never quite remember what happened after that, but he would wake up the next morning sore and with some kind of bruise somewhere to take care of. The man always looked guilty, but never enough to stop. Zim knew what had happened. He hated that he didn’t know how to stop it.

Zim brought his knees up to his chest, feeling like he was slipping away already as he watched Ren fall onto the end of the bed. No, he didn’t want to check out again! He didn’t want to get hurt!

He shook more violently, exerting all of his energy in just trying to keep his brain turned on. Realistically, he knew he couldn’t fight Ren off if he tried to hurt him. But as long as he stayed present, he might be able to make enough noise to alert Dik. 

No… Dik probably wouldn’t help him. He would have to be loud enough to alert the neighbors. He didn’t know what or if they would do about it, but anything was better than just shutting down again.

Ren stirred, pulling himself up so that he was leaning on his elbows. Zim started to cry, something he didn’t want to do. He didn’t want the person in the room with him to see that he was scared of him.

“What’s your problem?” Ren said it coherently for someone who was stumbling around completely wasted. Zim didn’t know how to answer, hugging himself tighter as if it would stop his crying.

Ren went to move, causing Zim to flinch. The tears came down faster, and now he was full on sobbing into his stuffed animal. Ren looked taken aback, and suddenly much more sober.

“Uh… Hey,” He reached his arm out, putting it gently on Zim’s shoulder. Something deep in his brain registered this as an act of comfort, but the rest of his body began to panic. He jerked away, causing Ren to pull his own arm away.

Zim’s sobs grew weaker, his entire body just ready to give in. He was tired, fighting back against everything his brain was trying to do. “Please don’t hurt me.” He tried to say, but it was incoherent. He shook his head, hoping that would get the message across. 

Ren held his hands up, like he was surrendering. He didn’t say anything, just watched as Zim rocked back and forth. “Don’t hurt me.” He repeated it again and again until it started to actually sound like words again.

“I won’t.” Ren said, clearer than Zim had ever heard it. 

He still didn’t believe him. He didn’t have any reason not to, but everything in his brain told him that Ren was lying. He was just waiting for the right moment.

The right moment seemed to have come and gone, but Ren hadn’t moved. He sat on the other end of the bed, his hands still up in the air.

Zim was calmer now. Rather, Zim was barely present. It was like he was watching the scene unfold now, rather than actually being part of it.

“Zim,” Ren said. Now Zim could hear a bit of slurring still present. “Did someone hurt you? Before you came here.”

He was drunk. Zim had to remind himself of that. He wouldn’t care if he was sober. He didn’t really want to know the answer.

Zim didn’t respond, and after sitting in silence for a while he closed his eyes. Ren must have thought he had gone to sleep. He felt the mattress under him shift as the teen stood up. A few seconds later, the door creaked open before closing once more.

He was alone now.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I made this and I have to live with that

Ren closed the door slowly, not wanting to wake Zim up. He leaned against the door, not quite sure how to react to what he just saw. He let the back of his head lean against the wood of the door, the fuzzy warm feeling from the beers he had earlier still giving him a light headed feeling. He wasn’t nearly as drunk as he had been, but still not quite sober yet.

What did Zim think he was going to do? As much as he knew he didn’t want to know, he still wondered. What had happened to him?

He was suddenly angry, but he wasn’t sure quite at what yet. Maybe just how unfair it all was, or maybe it was at whoever had made Zim react like that. 

Sighing, he pulled himself off of the door and made his way to the closed door of his and Dik’s bedroom. He pushed it open easily, seeing Dik sitting at his desk writing something in a notebook.

Ren suddenly found someone who he had a pretty good reason to be angry with.

Dik looked up from whatever he was working on, looking unimpressed. “That’s the quickest I’ve ever seen you sober up.” He observed. “What did he do, annoy you into sobriety?”

“What the hell were you thinking?” Ren ignored the question.

Dik shrugged, now looking a bit amused. “Hey, I’m just glad we finally found something that-”

“I was drunk, Dik!” Ren pointed out, slamming the door behind him. “What the hell were you thinking leaving me in there unattended with a ten year old?”

Dik narrowed his eyes, turning in his swivel chair to face his brother. “What’s the big deal? You literally stay home with Gir all the time!”

“This was different and you know it!” Ren raised his voice. “What if something had happened?”

“Something like what?” Dik said, crossing his arms. “You couldn’t even stand up on your own. The worst you could have done was projectile vomit on him.”

“Let me ask you something, do you care about anyone other than yourself?” Ren was full on yelling now, so loud that he was positive that the neighbors could hear him. 

Dik narrowed his eyes, standing up. “Come on, that’s unfair and you know it!”

“No,” Ren hissed. “What’s unfair is putting a ten year old kid in a situation like that! He was completely powerless!”

“You keep talking like you’ve been nothing but a saint to him!” Dik pointed out. “You are just as much of an asshole as me!”

Ren slammed his hand on the desk, taking a step forward. “I’ve never done anything that could have gotten him hurt!”

“You didn’t hurt him though! You weren’t going to do anything to him!” Dik hesitated for a second. He looked back up at his brother with a bit of disgust. “Wait… did you-?”

“No.” Ren was quick to correct him. “I didn’t. But the point is that I could have.”

Dik sighed, plopping back down in his swivel chair and crossing his arms again. “So are you gonna tell me what exactly happened in there?”

Ren walked over to his own bed, sitting down. He wasn’t quite sure if he wanted to answer that question. “I think we need to make more of an effort with Zim.”

“Why?” Dik asked, seeming more annoyed than usual. “Name one good reason why we should.”

“Because he’s a kid.” Ren said sternly. 

Dik scoffed. “So are we. In case you haven’t noticed.”

Ren laughed. Not because it was funny, but because he had finally realized what was going on. “So is that what this is about? Are you seriously being pissy just because it’s unfair?”

“Well, it is! Just because fucking Deb and her peice of shit husband bring in some random ass kid into our house to feel better about their failing marraige doesn’t make him our brother!” Dik was yelling again. “They’re the ones that wanted him, maybe they should send him back if they don’t plan on taking care of him. He’s not our problem.”

“Mom and Dad have nothing to do with this, Zim didn’t choose them!” Ren pointed out.

“He didn’t choose us either!” Dik said. “Just be honest, do you want him here?”

Ren was actually taken aback by that. “That’s not the-”

“Just answer it.” Dik said, leaning forward. “Do you want him here?”

Ren didn’t. Or at least he didn’t that morning. Or the previous three weeks. He had tried to make it very clear to Zim that he wanted nothing more than for him to pack up his bags and leave…

But he knew it sucked not really having a family. He knew exactly what it felt like to get tossed to the side by the two people who are supposed to be watching you just because they had their own issues to deal with. 

He and Dik hadn’t seen their dad in six months. Their mom called more often, but she hasn’t been to the house in person since they had first brought home Gir. Ren still remembered how she had held her newborn baby and promised to be around for them more. She was gone the next morning, with an apology note taped to the fridge.

And then there was whatever had happened in Zim’s room. He may not have known exactly if he wanted Zim to be here specifically, but he knew he definitely didn’t want him to go back.

Ren looked Dik in the eye. “Yes.” He answered. “I do.”

Dik looked surprised, almost betrayed by Ren’s answer. He huffed, standing up and narrowing his eyes. “Fine. You have fun with that.”

“Where are you going?” Ren asked, exasperated. Dik was turning the doorknob, the pillow from his bed tucked under his arm.

“I’m going to sleep on the floor in Gir’s room.” He said coldly. “You know, our actual brother.”

He walked out, slamming the door behind him.

\---

Throughout their childhood, people had always compared Dik and Ren. The consensus was that Dik was the emotional one, the one who made the impulsive choices and rushed into things without thinking. Ren was (or rather, used to be before all the drugs) the level headed one. He was still the one who thought things through a little more. He wasn’t very emotional, he really just did things that suited his own self interests.

Dik was starting to think everyone who had come to that conclusion was wrong.

Zim was standing on a chair, on his tiptoes trying to reach a cereal bowl on the top shelf. Dik just watched, wishing he could find this as humorous as he had yesterday. 

Ren walked into the kitchen earlier than usual, notably both sober and pissed. He gave Dik a glare before walking up behind Zim and grabbing the bowl for him. Dik felt the overwhelming urge to bend his spoon in half.

“Didn’t sleep well last night?” Ren asked dryly, taking a seat next to his brother.

“Actually, I slept great.” Dik lied. Actually, he was woken up almost every hour on the hour by a very temperamental toddler. The only way to get him to calm down was to wrap him up in a blanket and hold him until he went back to sleep.

Ren gave a halfhearted hum in response, peeling an orange. Zim looked between the two, seemingly confused. Dik glared at him, making the younger boy duck his head down and rush to busy himself with his cereal.

The table was uncomfortably quiet.

Dik stood up, pushing his unfinished bowl of cereal away. “I’m gonna go start the car.”

“How about I give Zim a ride today?” Ren asked. “I’d hate to inconvenience you.

Dik wanted to scream, but the simple fact that he didn’t want to show Ren how angry he was managed to keep him in check. “Please, don’t let us get in the way of your ‘self medication’. Since that’s all you actually care about.”

Ren looked pissed, but didn’t say anything. Zim was currently pretending like he hadn’t heard anything that was going on. Dik got unreasonably mad about this, and made a not so subtle arm movement as he walked by. 

The bowl of cereal spilt milk and chocolate puffs on Zim’s sweatshirt, causing the boy to jump back. He still didn’t dare look up at Dik.

“Change your shirt. I’m leaving with or without you.” He looked back up at Ren, who had practically turned red in anger. The two boys waited until Zim left before either of them spoke.

“Listen, you can be as mad at me as you want,” Ren said quietly. “But just leave him out of it.”

“How the hell do I leave him out of it, Ren?” Dik hissed. “You decided you would rather play house with some stranger’s kid instead of actually being there for your family! You took his side, and-”

“For fuck’s sake, are you five?” Ren was trying not to raise his voice, but he wasn’t doing it very well. “There aren’t any sides, you stupid shit! Can you just grow up?”

Dik sighed. “I don’t have time for this.” He grabbed his bag off of the floor, leaving the kitchen without another word. He didn’t have the energy to deal with this bullshit right now.

He went out to the car, sitting behind the wheel in silence for Zim. The boy climbed in frantically, as if Dik was just going to drive away with him hanging halfway out the passenger side door (though it was tempting right about now).

He sped off, ignoring the speed limit. He needed some kind of caffeine, and right now he didn’t even really care where it came from. 

The shittly coffee shop that was on the way to school was surprisingly packed, but he didn’t care. He pulled into the drive-thru’s unreasonably long line and let out an annoyed huff. He looked over to Zim, who was hugging his backpack like a baby hugs a stuffed animal.

“So what the fuck happened last night?” Dik asked, sounding much more pissy than he really needed to be. 

Zim flinched, hugging his bag tighter. “I- I don’t know…”

Dik gave a humorless laugh. “Bullshit.”

Zim looked alarmed, and went back to staring at the zippers on his bag. Dik wasn’t going to let the conversation end there.

“Listen, I don’t know what the fuck you told him but-” Dik was interrupted.

“It wasn’t anything important, okay?” Zim almost yelled it, catchinging Dik off guard. 

He got angrier. “Yes it was! Whatever it was, you freaked him the fuck out!”

“I didn’t mean to!” Zim had tears welling up in his eyes. “It wasn’t my fault! I didn’t want him to-”

“I’m not letting my family get split up again!” Dik didn’t mean to say it out loud. It was the kind of thought that was supposed to stay in his head.

For a moment, he thought maybe it had. But when he saw Zim staring at him with wide eyes he knew that he had said it out loud.

Zim swallowed a lump in his throat, tears now freely falling down his face. “I got scared… I thought he was going to… I’m sorry!”

Dik didn’t know how to react. He just sat there, watching as Zim started to weakly sob into his backpack. He felt a sudden pang of guilt, but pushed it down as he approached the ordering station. He rolled down his window, giving the barista his order quietly so as to not disturb Zim’s pseudo-breakdown.

The barista gave him his total, and sent him on his way. He sat, watching the smoke pour out of the tailpipe of the old truck in front of them.

“Am I the reason you and Ren are mad at each other?” Zim’s voice cut through the silence like a gunshot. He seemed a little bit calmer, but still upset.

The way Zim said it seemed to grab Dik by the throat. He remembered asking his father a similar question when he was younger, after getting woken up by them fighting in the room next door.

He didn’t answer Zim, letting the silence suffocate them both once again.

When he pulled up to the window, he took out his wallet and suddenly got an idea. He looked up at the barista. “Uh, hey… I forgot something when I was ordering, could I-?”

“Yeah, that’s fine. What do you need?” She asked, loudly popping her gum. Dik gave her the addition to the order quietly. She looked between him and Zim, who was staring out the window and looking sufficiently sad. She gave a sympathetic nod. “Yeah, I can do that.”

He paid, and she produced two disposable cups of coffee. They weren’t even kind of hot, but he supposed beggars can’t be choosers. Ren took the smaller cup and passed it to Zim.

The boy blinked at it a few times in confusion. “Uh… what is this?”

“Hot chocolate.” Dik took an apathetic sip of his black coffee, trying to not look at Zim for too long so the boy couldn’t see the guilt he felt just yet.

Zim took the cup, taking a hesitant sip. “Thanks.”

Dik sighed. “I’m… sorry. It’s not your fault, I’m just… wel, I’ve got my own issues.” Dik started driving away, repeating what Zim needed to hear one more time. “It’s not your fault.”

Zim didn’t answer, and the rest of the drive was quiet though not nearly as tense. The two sipped their respective, lukewarm drinks and ignored the weird emotional whiplash they had just experienced.

Dik pulled in front of the middle school slowly, not really saying anything. He looked at Zim expectantly.

He went to open the door, but stopped mid-motion. Dik raised an eyebrow. “Hey, you ok-”

Zim turned and wrapped his arms around Dik’s torso to the best of his ability, burying his head just underneath his elbow. The hug was made quite awkward thanks to the seatbelt that Dik was still wearing. Awkwardly, he patted the boy on the head.

Zim pulled back, tears gathering in his eyes again. Dik cleared his throat. “Don’t read too much into that.”

Zim frowned, suddenly looking nervous. He grabbed his bag and his drink, going to get out of the car.

“Hey!” Dik called after him before he could close the door. He smiled at him. “Have a good day.”

Zim smiled back. “Yeah, you too.”

Dik didn’t go to school. He had family matters to attend to.

He pulled into the driveway, walking into the house through the garage door. Gir was sitting on a blanket, playing with an array of colorful blocks. He looked up at Dik and smiled. He held his arms up. “Baba!”

Dik picked up his little brother, giving him a little hug. He looked up, seeing Ren standing expectantly in the archway that led to the living room.Dik looked down at his shoes awkwardly.

“You were right.” He admitted. “I’m sorry.”

Ren smiled, deeming that apology as good enough. He walked up to his brother, effectively wrapping up Dik and Gir into a hug. Dik could smell the weed on him, and the guilt only multiplied. He hugged him back with the arm that he wasn’t using to hold Gir.

“I knew you’d come around.” 

\---

Zim sat at his desk, waiting for the bell to ring. The rest of the students were in their various friend groups. Ms. Bitters wasn’t even in the classroom yet, which wasn’t too uncommon.

His interpreter was reading a magazine. The man had already asked him about his paper cup of hot chocolate. Zim had gotten to use a sign he had never used before.

He had taken his hands and made two L’s. He had held one out like a finger gun and pressed the thumb of his other L to the center of his forehead. He brought the L from his forehead down, letting it hit the finger he was pointing out like a hammer hits a nail. He saw how his interpreter smiled.

“Brother”.

“Hey.” Zim jumped as Dib seemily materialized next to him with no warning. “You look like you were crying… are you alright?”

He thought a second before answering honestly. “No.”

Dib frowned. “Well, are you gonna be alright?”

Zim looked down at his coffee cup and smiled.

“Yeah.”

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know if I missed anything in the tags! A big thank you to my friends in the Zimps discord server for helping me with this! More to come from this AU!


End file.
